Freight carriers tend to use a lot of plastic, whether they’re bundling crates and totes or securing stacks of boxes on a pallet. The problem is, most plastics are environmentally costly, thanks to their petroleum-based components and non-compostable nature.
American Airlines Cargo—the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline’s transportation and logistics arm—says it has found a greener alternative. Beginning in early 2022, the carrier started replacing the traditional plastic wrap and pallet covers used at its U.S. hubs with BioNatur Plastics, a line of biodegradable plastic products developed by Port Washington, New York-based M&G Packaging.
The plastics used in the BioNatur line are manufactured with an organic, food-safe proprietary additive that allows anaerobic bacteria to digest the plastic over a period of eight to 12 years in a landfill, as compared to the 1,000 years required for regular plastic to break down. Yet outside of a landfill, the specially treated plastic has an indefinite shelf life, performing exactly like traditional plastic products, the manufacturer says.
By making the switch, American Airlines Cargo reduced its long-term plastic waste by the equivalent of 6.4 million water bottles in the first year alone, the carrier says. It topped that performance in 2023 by eliminating another 8.6 million water bottles’ worth of plastic waste.
Based on the pilot’s success, American recently expanded the program to include regional airports in the U.S. and Latin America. The program is now in place at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as well as Carrasco International Airport in Uruguay and Santiago International Airport in Chile.
